Keep Me Safe
by ionlyfandomfree
Summary: Middle school could be hell, Leopold knew that very well, but thankfully, Erland was always there for him. ((Human AU. Kugel gets bullied and Ladonia is having none of it. Reviews and faves are very appreciated if you enjoyed!))


_I got a Kugelmugel/Ladonia re_ _quest about Kugel being bothered about his gender. Yes, I'm aware he's been confirmed as a male. However, others and myself have headcanoned him as nonbinary. So he uses they/them pronouns in this. There is use of the word 'queer' in this drabble intended to be derogatory, fair warning! The next drabble up will be a PolLiet on that is also focused on gender._

 _Erland - Ladonia_

 _Leopold - Kugelmugel_

* * *

" _So what's your gender?"_

" _Hm?"_

" _You know like, are you a boy or a girl?"_

" _I don't-"_

" _Come on, tell us! "_

" _Tell us, freak."_

" _I'm not-"_

" _Freak."_

Leopold shook the thoughts from their head and continued sketching. They were sitting on a park bench, sketching the small pond in front. It was a good way to take their mind off things. Middle school was an absolute nightmare. Acceptance was a hard thing to find and Leo was lucky for the friends they'd managed to find. Peter and Wendy were both nice, Raivis and Lily were older so they didn't know the two that well. The one friend stuck out to them though. Erland. The Swedish boy had been there for them ever since they had become friends. They didn't live close but the duo always made it a point to walk as far as they could together on their way home. He made sure everyone respected their pronouns and respected them in general.

At first, Leopold thought it was troublesome and a little embarrassing but they came to enjoy the fact that Erland cared so much. Lately, Leo had developed a small crush on the other, which was a whole new world for Leo. They had never experienced that form of attraction before and now they were currently ignoring it.

"Oi!" Leo didn't look up from their sketchbook at the sound of the voice. It wasn't until it was forcefully ripped from their hands did Leo actually make a move to respond. The color drained from their face.

The boys from earlier.

Leo sat upright with a frown. They'd really liked that sketchbook. But there was no way to get it back now. They stood up quickly from the bench and grabbed their bag. They tried to walk away but one of the boys stood in front of them.

"Where do you think you're going?" Leopold didn't answer.

"So you're a freak _and_ mute?" Leopold stayed quiet again, their fingers gripping their bag tighter.

The first push to their shoulder wasn't hard, though they stumbled a bit.

"Speak up, freak!" Leopold stared at the ground and the next push was harder than before. They fell, their sketch pencils spilling out from the bag and rolling across the grass.

"Hey!" That voice was new. Leo glanced up and their eyes widened once they saw the familiar messy red hair.

"Erland don't.." Leo mumbled, frowning at the other but it was too late. Erland was practically fuming.

"Leave them alone!" he glared and walked over to them. The boys broke out into hysterics, looking back at Leopold.

"Your knight in shining armor is _Oxenstierna_?" One of the boys asked through their laughter. "What are you going to do? Code me to death?"

Erland glared up at them, fists clenched at his sides. "Leave them alone." he repeated, the boys still laughing to themselves. One of the chucked Leopold's sketchbook sideways at their face. It hit them in the nose and Leo hissed in pain.

"Oops." one of them laughed before grabbing the sketchbook again. Leo tried to grab it but only managed to rip a few pages out before one of the boys chucked it into the pond.

"Let's go, these queers aren't worth our time anyway. Have fun with your boyfriend, Oxenstierna." the group of boys walked off and Erland immediately ran down to the pond. The sketchbook had landed near the banks. He fished it out and huffed, walking back up to Leo, trying to think of a way to dry the sketchbook.

"I don't think you can salvage it this time-" Erland cut himself off once he took a good look at Leo. Leo was clutching the pages they'd managed to save but now they were ruined, covering in little droplets of blood and tears.

"Your nose!" Erland kneeled down and tilted the Austrian's head up. He reached into his bag and sighed in relief when he found he still had some tissues. He handed it to them and gently wiped the tears from their cheeks.

"Don't listen to them. Sorry I didn't get here in time." Leo nodded and stuck a bit of the tissue up their nose.

"Do you want me to come over? We can tell Peter we cancelled, he'll just have to accept that." Leo reluctantly nodded. They collected the pencils that had rolled across the ground.

"Be more careful, don't jump head first into situations for my sake." Leo reprimanded quietly. Erland stood up and offered a hand. Leo took it and stood up again. Erland scoffed and put his hands on his hips.

"I would have been fine in a fight!" Leo picked up their ruined sketchbook and their bag.

"Mhm.."

"Have more confidence in me!" Leo chuckled, walking away from the park bench with him. Erland crossed his arms and smiled. "I'll hack their accounts later and ruin their social life then."

Leo shrugged. "Do whatever you want." Their voice was nasally due to the tissue and Erland thought it was funny, and oddly cute.

"It'll teach them not to mess with you again."

"What if they mess with you instead." Erland paused at that and then shrugged. "I'll be fine."

"I hope so." Leo admitted, shooting Erland a tiny, genuine smile.

Erland felt his cheeks redden and he clicked his tongue. "Whatever. Let's just get to your house and hack those idiots."

Leo's smile grew a little and the two of them laughed. "Sure." They were both smiling the rest of the walk, neither of them seemed to care that the entire time, their hands were interlocked.

* * *

 _It's 6:18 in the morning, I haven't slept. I know there is definitely typos in here, I'll fix them when I wake up again._


End file.
